KITCHEN PRACTICE 1 — A Fresh Green Salad
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SERVES 2

INGREDIENTS
  For the salad:
    A good handful of mixed salad leaves per person
    Half a cucumber, sliced
    A handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
    A quarter of a red onion, very thinly sliced
  For the vinaigrette:
    3 tablespoons olive oil
    1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice
    A small pinch of salt and pepper
    Optional: a small pinch of sugar or a little mustard

METHOD

Step 1 — Prep the vegetables using real knife technique.
Halve the cherry tomatoes with your chef's knife rather than tearing
them. Slice the cucumber into even rounds. Thinly slice the red onion
— Chapter 3's own knife skills doing real work here, not just
practice.

Step 2 — Soften the onion's sharpness (optional but worth doing).
Raw red onion can taste harsh. If you want to soften that, put the
sliced onion in a small bowl of cold water for 10 minutes while you do
the rest of the prep, then drain.

Step 3 — Wash and dry the leaves properly.
Wash the salad leaves and dry them thoroughly — a salad spinner works
well, or pat dry with a clean towel. Wet leaves dilute the dressing and
stop it clinging properly.

Step 4 — Build the vinaigrette, Chapter 5's own way.
Whisk the vinegar (or lemon juice) with the salt and pepper first,
then gradually whisk in the olive oil until combined. Taste it plain
on a spoon, and adjust using Chapter 5's own diagnostic table — more
oil if it's too sharp, more acid or salt if it tastes flat.

Step 5 — Assemble.
Put the leaves, cucumber, tomatoes, and drained onion in a large bowl.

Step 6 — Dress just before serving, not before.
Drizzle the vinaigrette over and toss gently to coat everything evenly.
Dress right before eating — dressed leaves left to sit will wilt and
turn soggy.

Step 7 — Taste the whole salad, not just the dressing.
Taste a forkful of the assembled salad, not just the dressing alone —
Chapter 5's own point that a dressing can taste different in isolation
versus mixed with real food. Adjust with a little extra dressing if
needed.

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WHY THIS WORKS
This dish deliberately combines two separate skills built earlier in
the course — Chapter 3's real knife technique and Chapter 5's
vinaigrette-building and tasting discipline — into one genuinely
simple, everyday dish, which is exactly the kind of combination this
course has been building toward since Chapter 1.